The Circle of Protection
by Alvera
Summary: “And the strength of light created a circle. A circle of immortality. A Circle with eleven seats for twelve Protectors. BM
1. The Prophecy

1 The Circle of Protection – The Prophecy  
  
By Freddie  
  
"And the strength of light created a circle. A circle of immortality. A Circle with eleven seats for twelve Protectors. They shall not age, unless their will permits, but however much they age only the will of another can destroy them.  
  
The first, the first shall be the Protector of Strength. Broken shackles will represent him for no item made by man can hold him.  
  
The second, she shall be the Protector of Hope. Her symbol will be a candle, for hope shall light the way through the darkest of times.  
  
The third shall be the Protector of Truth and will have a full moon for a sign, for truth, like the full moon, will bathe even darkness in light.  
  
The forth shall be Protector of Hearts, a heart will be a symbol for her and she will be able to see man's truest desires.  
  
The fifth, he shall be Protector of Minds. His symbol shall ever change, for man's mind never remains the same from one century to the next.  
  
The sixth shall be Protector of Health. Her symbol will be a vial and this vial shall be full of medicine for the many battles of good and evil. She will wear this vial round her neck for evermore.  
  
The seventh shall be the Protector of Battles Fought for the Light. He shall have a sword as his sign, for even in our world of magic, there are places where deep magic, deeper than anyone remembers, swallow magic, except it's own, which is too powerful stop. It is in these places where swords will clash and magic will lay forgotten.  
  
The eighth, she shall be Protector of Time. She shall have the ability to see what has happened in the past, is happening in the present, and may happen in the future. Her symbol will be an hourglass.  
  
The ninth shall be Protector of Wisdom. The fate of youth will rest on his shoulders, and his symbol will be a parchment, written in the ancient language of sapienta, the language of wisdom.  
  
The tenth shall be Protector of Trust and Loyalty, she shall have a dog as her symbol for dogs are loyal. A dog shall follow her at all times and will never leave her side.  
  
The eleventh, the eleventh shall be the Protector of Evil, and will have no sign for he shall never be seated in the circle.  
  
The twelfth shall be Protector of Logic and she will have a riddle as her symbol and she must solve the riddle before she may take her place in the circle.  
  
The eleventh Protector shall not stay loyal to the light. The temptations of darkness shall live within his heart and shall drive out the light. He will rise twice and many shall fall before the twelfth is born. But in his second reign, he shall have to face his enemy's in the circle or he will fail. If the circle is destroyed however, nothing can stop him. When the eleven are seated, they shall battle. Many will fall around them, but they must defeat the eleventh or else good will fall with men and evil will destroy the world…" 


	2. The Journey Begins

1 The Circle of Protection – The Journey Begins  
  
By Freddie  
  
Albus Dumbledore closed the book and placed it on a shelf in his office. The letters on the side glittered in the dim light. He looked out the window, and then at the clock. He had been reading for several hours without realising. He thought for a moment, before taking a handful of silver dust which he threw into the fire.  
  
"Minerva," He called, "Could I have a word?"  
  
"Of Course Albus," Minerva McGonagal's voice came back, "I'll be there in a moment." Dumbledore walked back over to the bookcase again and took the book over to his desk. They had to find nine people, most of whom were older than himself, and he was only just the right side of five hundred. The oldest was well over two thousand years old. But where would they be? He heard McGonagal's footsteps climbing the steps of his tower.  
  
"The door's open" He told her, before she had a chance to knock. When she came in, he looked older than she had ever seen him.  
  
"Albus, what's wrong?" He didn't answer her directly, instead he asked, "Have you ever heard of the Book of Magic?"  
  
"No," She replied slowly, "no, I don't think I have"  
  
"The Mountain of Accendere?" She shook her head.  
  
"The Circle of Protection?"  
  
"Albus, I haven't heard of any of these"  
  
"Pity"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, Minerva, we have to unite the eleven Protectors, before Voldemort can get to them"  
  
  
  
A couple of hours later Severus Snape was standing in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Severus, now what I'm going to ask of you is a rather strange request, but one which I have no doubt you will carry out to the best of your ability's" He paused and indicated to Snape to sit down, before continuing, "Minerva and I have some business to attend to over the Summer holiday's. As, I'm sure you are aware, many of the students are staying in the school over the Holidays, Mr Potter, Mr Weasly and Miss Granger included. I want you to keep an eye on Miss Granger, do not let harm come to her, but do it so she does not know. I'd rather she knew as little as possible until the time comes." Snape nodded, he didn't understand why he had to look after that Gryffindor know-it-all but his was not to question. Dumbledore obviously had some reason.  
  
  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the great hall a couple of days later eating Breakfast when Hermione, who was looking at the row of teachers at the staff table, asked, "Where's Dumbledore?"  
  
"Ministry Business probably" Ron said.  
  
"Fudge's probably realised that Voldemort is alive" Harry added.  
  
"Or maybe he's just too busy for breakfast today" Ron suggested.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose, it's just He hasn't been at any meals for, well for at least three days" Harry just shrugged and carried on eating.  
  
"I haven't seen McGonagal in a while either" Ron said, "in fact, the last time I saw her was, I can't remember when I last saw her"  
  
"I saw her about three, four days ago" Hermione said.  
  
"Hermione," Harry asked, "do you memorise which teachers are eating every day?"  
  
"No," Hermione replied, "Just when you and Ron start talking about quidditch"  
  
"I thought you liked quidditch"  
  
"I do, I just don't feel the need to talk about it all day every day" And that was the end of that conversation.  
  
  
  
Seven days turned into a week and four weeks turned into a month, but neither McGonagal nor Dumbledore were seen round the school. There was no mention of Voldemort in the daily prophet and every thing seemed rosy. Little did the students know that the teachers had put a special charm on the school. It was called a 'Rose Tinted Glasses' Charm. The first inkling that any student had that something was up was when Harry, Hermione and Ron noticed Snape's face whilst he was reading his owl post. It was a combination of shock, horror, surprise and a theory that whoever wrote the letter was either mad or disillusioned. Later that day, when Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting in the library, Snape came in and told Hermione that Professor Dumbledore wanted to see her. Madame Pince, who was standing nearby, looked at Snape as though he was mad. He led Hermione out of the school, not realising that Harry and Ron were following at a safe distance. When they were out of the school, Hermione asked Snape, "Professor, where are we going?" He looked at her.  
  
"To Meet Dumbledore at the Mountain of Accendere" Snape said. He reached into his robes and pulled out a letter, which he showed to Hermione.  
  
Severus,  
  
The time is now. You must bring Hermione Granger to the top of the Mountain of Accendere. Minerva and I will meet you there.  
  
Good luck  
  
Albus 


	3. Valley of Ganomic

The Circle of Protection – The Valley of Ganomic 

By Freddie

_Sorry this part is so short, I'm only just getting over a bad case of writers block on this story. This part is dedicated to Natalie for encouraging me to continue with this._

"Why me?" Hermione asked. Snape shrugged.

"Ours is not to question," He said. Suddenly Harry and Ron burst out of their hiding places, wands raised.

"If you take her anywhere we're coming," Ron said. Snape looked at them as though trying to decide what to do.

"I should have known that you would be here," He snarled. In his mind he was trying to decide what to do when he heard a voice echoing round his head, "Let them come." Instinctively, he glanced over his shoulder, before looking at the three faces watching him. None of them showed any hint of hearing a voice.

"Ok" He said, carefully, "But Keep up" 

Having left Hogwarts, they travelled by day and rested by night. Snape made them stay quiet and would look around at the slightest noise. He seemed to know where he was going. But if they asked him, he would not reply. 

They had been travelling for a few weeks when they first met trouble. They were in the Valley of Ganomic. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Snape were still none the wiser as to quite why or where they were supposed to be meeting Dumbledore and Snape was not going to scare Harry, Ron and Hermione by telling them they were being guided by voices in his head. 

They had only arrived in the valley a few days ago and Harry, Ron and Hermione were convinced that they were lost. They were just whispering about this when they saw death eaters advancing towards them. They turned to run back the way that they had come and saw Voldemort and more death eaters advancing from the other side.

"Ahh" He said, "The great Harry Potter, we meet again…"


	4. Over My Dead Body

The Circle of Protection – "Over My Dead Body"

Sorry this is so short again, but I figured that this would be a good cliffhanger, the next one's a bit longer, I promise

"But this time," He continued, "There's no escape" His wand was aiming dangerously near to Harry's chest.

"No!" Hermione screamed, leaping in between them.

"Very well _little girl_, I shall just kill you as well"

"Over my dead body" Snape hissed stepping in between them. Voldemort looked slightly surprises that Snape would want to protect these kids.

"That can be arranged" Voldemort replied. His wand was pointed Snape and he muttered the spell, "Avada Kadavra"…

_What's going to happen? Will Snape Die? Will they ever find Dumbledore? Find out in the next part of 'Circle of Protection' Coming soon to a computer near you!!_


	5. Heracles, Son of Zeus

_Sorry this took so long, I've got exams soon so I've been doing a bit of revision!!!_

The Circle of Protection – Heracles, Son of Zeus 

But nothing happened. Voldemort looked at his wand and tried again. Inside his head Snape heard a voice 'Run you idiot!' So he grabbed Hermione's wrist and ran for his life. Harry and Ron followed. The death eaters yelled spells and curses at them but nothing happened. Their wands weren't working. This gave Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione the advantage. It meant that they managed to break through the circle of deatheaters surrounding them. It meant that they managed to run. Suddenly Snape tripped and fell, dragging Hermione down with him. Luckily (Or unluckily depending on your point of view) they were near a slightly steep drop and they fell a few metres onto some grass. Harry and Ron leapt down and landed near them. They heard one of the death eaters shout, "Where have they gone?"

"They can't have just disappeared" another yelled. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Snape flattened themselves against the drop and hoped that the death eaters wouldn't see them.

"Where are they?" Another death eater asked.

"They can't have apperated without their wands"

"Where are they?" The death eater repeated.

"I DON'T BLOODY KNOW GOYLE BUT WE'D BETTER FIND THEM SOON OR OUR HEADS ARE GOING TO BE SERVED ON A SILVER BLOODY PLATTER"

"What does that mean?"

"It's a muggle expression"

"Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy" They heard Voldemort shout, "Have you found them, or have you failed me?"…

HHHHHH

About an hour later the voices had died away, without finding them. Suddenly they heard some a girls voice, a different one, which was singing.

"Forty years on an iceberg, out in the ocean wide, nothing to wear but pyjamas, nothing to do but slide, oh but it was horrid, the frost began to bite, I had to cuddle a polar bear to keep me warm at night" 

"Ceres" A man's voice said.

"Yes?" 

"Shut up"

"Oh don't be so horrible," Another man's voice said, "Ceres likes singing" and said in a patronising voice, "Don't you?"

"Hey," She yelled, "I may only be two hundred and fifty, but that does not give you the right to patronise me!!!!"

"Ceres" Another woman's voice said, "ignore him, he'll soon get bored"

"Will you two give it a break?" A voice that sounded like Dumbledore's said.

"Yeah," another man's voice said, "bicker, bicker, bicker, you're like a couple of kids"

"I'm not the kid" the man that Ceres had yelled at said.

"Right," She yelled, "That's it!!! Go fetch Trustae" Suddenly they heard running steps coming towards them from above the ledge. A man leapt off it, chased by an Old English sheepdog.

"Get your dog away from me" He yelled.

"Not until you take that back"

"Alright, alright," He said, "You're not a kid"

"Thank you," A woman said, jumping down off the ledge a few metres from where they were sitting, "Trustae," She shouted, "Come on" The dog ran back to her and suddenly she noticed them for the first time.

"Albus" She shouted.

"Yes?" Dumbledore's voice came back.

"You know the twelfth?"

"Yes"

"Well, does she have shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes?"

"Yes"

"And you know the guy that was supposed to be getting her here?"

"Yes"

"Well, does he have greasy black hair and green eyes?"

"Yes"

"'Cause I think that I've found them"

Dumbledore's head popped over the ledge.

"Oh yes," He said, "So you have"


End file.
